Will Smith and Edward Norton’s Reputation Was Shattered For Misleading Fans in This $88M Flop

Will Smith and Edward Norton's Reputation Was Shattered For Misleading Fans in This $88M Flop
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Will Smith once starred in a 2016 movie alongside famed Fight Club actor Edward Norton. The movie, which seemed to have a great premise for the audience turned out to have a brutal twist in the end which made critics hate it.

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Alongside the critics, fans also stated that the brutal twist, in the end, was not necessary at all as the movie would have been far better without the shocking twist. Collateral Beauty, starring Edward Norton and Will Smith received a record-low score of 13% on Rotten Tomatoes and was deemed as misleading the audience.

Will Smith in Collateral Beauty (2016).
Will Smith in Collateral Beauty (2016).

Will Smith And Edward Norton’s Movie That Misled The Audience

What was meant to be a beautiful movie turned out to be a portrayal of corrupt people and hypocrisy which was deemed to be hurtful to the people. Grieving the death of his daughter, Claire (portrayed by Will Smith) starts behaving erratically in his office. Behaving abnormally, his partners Whit (Edward Norton), and Claire (Kate Winslet) try to find a way for Claire to cope up with his feelings.

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Will Smith and Helen Mirren in Collateral Beauty (2016).
Will Smith and Helen Mirren in Collateral Beauty (2016).

Also read: “They are used to having people wait a year”: Brad Pitt Got 48 Hours From Christopher Nolan for $837M Film Lead Role Before Will Smith Refused the Part

It is later revealed that Smith’s character had been writing letters to Time, Love, and Death as a way of finishing things and trying to move on. In their pursuit of greediness, Edward Norton and Kate Winslet’s characters hire 3 actors that would write back letters to the main lead. Thus, trying to prove him insane, the movie’s premise was cast aside as the critics hailed it as one of Will Smith’s worst movies ever made.

Although it has an average rating of 6.7/10 on IMDB, Collateral Beauty received a record-low score of 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. People also stated that the movie was meant to be philosophical but ended up becoming about corporate greed thus making it…misleading. The film shattered the reputations of Will Smith (before the Oscar slap) alongside Edward Norton who was already going through a tough time.

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Suggested: “We’re the a—holes in the back laughing”: Brad Pitt Reveals He Got High With Edward Norton to Watch $101M Cult-Classic That Failed at Box-Office

Will Smith Once Rejected Django Unchained Due To Violence!

Will Smith rejected Django Unchained back in 2012!
Will Smith rejected Django Unchained back in 2012.

Related: “Tom couldn’t do that – neither could Arnold”: Will Smith’s Smug Remarks Came Back to Haunt Him After Tom Cruise Refused to Revive His Movie Career Post Chris Rock Slap

It does sound hypocritical but Will Smith once rejected Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. The movie starred Jamie Foxx in the lead role and had several violent and traumatizing scenes for the audience.

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The actor stated that he wanted to star in the movie very badly but the amount of violence was what stopped him from signing the contract.

“I wanted to make that movie so badly, but I felt the only way was, it had to be a love story, not a vengeance story. We can’t look at what happens in Paris [the terrorist attacks] and want to f— somebody up for that. Violence begets violence. I just couldn’t connect to violence being the answer. Love had to be the answer.”

The interview took place in 2015 and several years later, Smith slapped Chris Rock during the Oscars. After the whole fiasco, the Men in Black actor hasn’t been able to make a successful comeback in Hollywood till recent times. Collateral Beauty is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

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Written by Visarg Acharya

Articles Published: 2032

Visarg Acharya, Associate Content Writer, has been heavily involved in movies, series, and history. Having an experience of 2 years in the field of content writing, Visarg is a seasoned writer. Having a degree in Physics, Visarg Acharya has published a dissertation alongside a plethora of poems and short stories along the way.